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FACE masks are being snapped up, the term 'Sars' has shot to second place on Yahoo's search index, after only 'Al-Jazeera', and some believe the deadly new disease is a bigger threat than terrorism.

These and other fears gripped North America as Sars entered the consciousness of Americans and Canadians in a big way.

US President George W. Bush's executive order allowing authorites to quarantine people, against their will if necessary, jolted Americans, while in Canada, news of an eighth death on Saturday dashed hopes that the disease was on the wane.

There have been 201 cases of the disease reported in Canada and 115 in the US to date. No one has died in the US thus far.

The Washington Post reported yesterday that a new poll showed high interest in the disease.

The ABC/Washington Post poll found that 74 per cent of Americans are following the Sars story closely.

Of those polled, 38 per cent are worried about the disease and 35 per cent think Sars is a greater danger to themselves or their family than a terrorist attack.

Higher up north, in Canada, The Globe and Mail newspaper reported that 61 per cent of Canadians are concerned about contracting the disease, with 27 per cent saying they are very concerned.

Sars fears are greatest in Ontario, the Canadian province hardest-hit by the outbreak.

Many Ontarians have begun keeping their children home from school.

'I may look really silly when this is done,' Ms Michelle Reeves, the mother of a seven-year-old boy, told the National Post newspaper.

'I can afford to look silly. I can't afford for my child to get this.'

Thousands of Canadians have also been ordered to stay home.

The quarantine applies to anyone who spent time at a hospital in Toronto since March 16, including patients, support staff, visitors, couriers and dozens of health-care workers.

As some began to complain at having to remain indoors, one man decided to break his quarantine. That led to a rare court order from a judge to have him arrested.

Now, many Canadians and Americans are beginning to change their personal habits too, because of Sars.

Many are washing their hands more often, staying home if they feel unwell, avoiding public places, cancelling travel plans and avoiding public transport.

But in some cases, the fear is starting to border on the irrational.

Many readers are writing in to Canadian newspapers and demanding that travellers arriving from Sars-hit countries be barred from entry.

The New York Times reported that the mysterious nature of the illness is breeding its own set of problems, setting off a surge in rumours.

But they would have to work at sieving fact from fiction.

Then there is the No 1 rumour on the Internet: That the disease is the result of a CIA genetic engineering experiment run amok.

'For a lot of people, it's more comfortable to believe that the CIA cooked something up in a secret lab somewhere and it got out,' said Ms Barbara Mikkelson, who runs a website dedicated to collecting rumours.

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Originally posted by Ben W: On the news they had people arriving in Australia from Hong Kong wearing those paper masks.

I wonder where this virus has come from, it just seemed to spring up from nowhere?

Click to expand...

WHO suspects its from animal farms in Guangdong, China. THe disease has been around since November last year but covered up for political reasons! (See the other TOpic i started China, Politics and SARS.)

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New Member

Originally posted by Ben W: On the news they had people arriving in Australia from Hong Kong wearing those paper masks.

I wonder where this virus has come from, it just seemed to spring up from nowhere?

Click to expand...

WHO suspects its from animal farms in Guangdong, China. THe disease has been around since November last year but covered up for political reasons! (See the other TOpic i started China, Politics and SARS.)

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Banned

Su...I saw on the TV news it is even worse. I think it was 40 more dead cases in HK. And more are sick. I did not follow up on any article in the newspaper today, but I am quoting my TV news. I also heard one person shot themselves and then was rushed to get treatment. More are being forced to get the treatments.

What I am wondering is treatment so expensive that they are not going to get it, or is it the religious beliefs that are in China and surrounding Countries? Budah and all. I also seen where more people were out and about buying herbs rather than get treatments. Thinking the herbs would make their immune systems stronger to fight the SARS.

As to the beliefs and all that. There have been Buddhist prayers going on to rid the world of SARS. i guess for chinese, praying is one thing but doing is just as important, that;s why all the herbs to strengthen the body.

apparently, people were buying vinegar to do a vapour to disinfect their houses.

Here in Singapore too, people are buying green beans to make a sort of soup to eat and build up the body's defenses. People here are just doing it coz others are doing it and they don't want to miss out on anything.

___________________________________________
Article taken from The Straits Times
14 hours: that's how long it took to talk sick man into going to hospital
HONGKONG - A 45-year-old man with Sars kept health officials at bay for 14 hours, refusing to leave his home and go to hospital.

He locked himself indoors, prompting authorities to call in the police on Saturday night.

Advertisement

Officials tried to coax the man into leaving his fourth-floor flat in the Tseung Kwan O district.

Hongkong media said the man, who lived with his wife and son, barricaded himself in after being diagnosed with Sars on Saturday.

He finally came out of his flat after overnight negotiations but not before some residents in his block had packed up and left.

Meanwhile, hopes that the outbreak might be tailing off were dashed yesterday, as two more people died and 42 new cases were reported. This brought the death toll to 22 and the number of Sars victims in the territory to 842.

As the cases continue to grow, so do hospital workers' fears that hospitals might be unable to cope.

'If there's no change in the distribution of resources and no contingency plans, most of the regional hospitals will not be able to provide normal services,' said Dr Lo Wing Lok, an infectious disease expert who represents the medical sector on Hongkong's Legislative Council.

He predicted the outbreak could be contained in two to three weeks because of better controls to curb its spread, like mandatory check-ups.

Practices at some hospitals have been adjusted, such as diverting some patients with other diseases away from the United Christian Hospital, which is dealing with more than 160 Sars cases and which has had at least 10 staff infected.

But critics said the measures were not enough.

There are also concerns Sars could be spreading in the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, where 'some staff members' of three wards are believed to have contracted it, health officials said.

Prince of Wales Hospital reopened its accident and emergency ward yesterday, but major surgery and non-urgent services remained suspended. -- AP, AFP

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Religion is very much frowned upon in China. They have the government organised Catholic church which is not recognised by Rome. Christians are reguarly jailed and beaten up for there faith. Christian Organisations like the Salvation Army are not permitted.

Yet the people there are so hungry for God. He will raise up a church in that nation to be sure.

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Banned

Ben,
Yeah I knew about the religious things you are talking about. The part I was meaning when talking religious, was like Budah and the other pagan beliefs.

I thought it kind of funny when Su said, they were buyig green beans. I would have never thought to say, oh man lets run and get some green beans to build up our immune system. When I was thinking herbs, I thought they were talking about some really healing herbs. Like Helen was talking about in the reading through the Bible. Like Hysslop.

Well Su, it is even worse now than yesterday. I will have to find the stats on it for today.

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this is a new strain. Worse than AIDS. you can catch it just being near a victim and you can die within a week.

flu-like symptoms, temperature of above 38.2degrees, aching body.

Doctors still have not nailed it if it is airborne spread or contact. much is still unknown about the virus but it spreads very rapidly.
America has over 100 cases both in Alaska and the main bit of America. Just within a month.

As of yesterday, ten deaths in Canada.

HK is straining. imagine hundreds of people needing ICU care at the same time! to top it, one quarter of their medical staff have been infected. They estimate up to 3000 infections by the end of April.

And China is still in delusion. Guangdong says it's under control. Yesterdays newspapers showed CHinese doctors standing next to a SARS patient with only a (flimsy-type) face mask on. Our doctors and nurses have protective gear they dispose of everyday and they have to bathe and change a new set of clothes when they leave the ICU.

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Sherrie, about the cost of medical care. I'm not sure about CHina and HK. Here in Singapore, all working people have a government account that employers and employees contribute to on a monthly basis. besides other things (like housing) we use that to cover medical bills. And the government highly subsidises the cost of medical services. It's much much more affordable than in the States (from what i know.)
we see the doctors for every little thing..

If i'm not wrong, China, being communist, the state should bear the cost. Or at least it is subsidised. I can try to find out and get back to you?

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New Member

Sherrie, what's the DR? Yah, i heard that in America, you can afford to die but not get sick.

And no problems, there are so many Chinese nationals here, i'll just try to remember to ask the next time i meet one i know.

BenW, it is a strain of atypical pneumonia. most people do survive but it seems only after a battle in the ICU. can you imagine the enormous strain in HK of hundreds of people needing ICU care at the same time? Pray for a vaccine!

On Monday, April 7, a World Health Organization (WHO) update on the etiology of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) included the following summary statement:

"It is currently agreed that [a novel] coronavirus (SARS virus) is the major causative agent of SARS. Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) has also been found in respiratory specimens and antibodies against hMPV in serum of some SARS patients, as well as evidence of dual infection with hMPV and the SARS virus. The significance of hMPV in SARS remains unclear at this time and will be reported on later."

For weeks, the novel coronavirus has been the prime suspect in the search for the cause of SARS, but had not been officially confirmed as the cause of the disease. Coinfection/cofactor hypotheses involving metapneumovirus, a type of paramyxovirus, and/or a species of chlamydia have been gaining ground as new laboratory findings have been reported from China, Canada, and elsewhere.

On April 5, WHO spokesman Chris Powell confirmed that the disease may result from "one virus acting with other things," and that in China, chlamydial infection is a possible cofactor. Scientists in Canada have reported the identification of both coronavirus and paramyxovirus genetic material in several SARS patients.

Three diagnostic tests are now available from WHO, but all have limitations as tools for bringing the SARS outbreak quickly under control. A WHO update on laboratory testing for SARS is now available on the WHO SARS Web site, listed below under "Key Resources."

Despite reports that SARS may be slowing in China and elsewhere, new cases and deaths continue to be reported, and concrete evidence of a weakened or less transmittable virus is lacking. As of today, WHO reports a cumulative total of 2601 cases of SARS, with 98 deaths in 17 countries. This represents an increase of 85 cases and 9 deaths since April 5.

As of April 5, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reporting a total of 115 suspected U.S. cases in 28 states, up from 100 cases on April 4. As of April 6, Health Canada is reporting a total of 217 probable or suspected SARS cases and 9 deaths, up from 178 and 6 on April 4.

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